Ex mining tycoon executed in China

A former mining tycoon who led a mafia-style crime gang that ran casinos and killed rivals has been executed along with four of the gang’s members, a court in central China said.

Liu Han had been chairman of energy conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The company owns stakes in Australian and US mines.

Prosecutors had painted a picture of Liu as running a vast criminal gang in the province with interests in mining, real estate and gambling. They said the group gunned down rivals, maintained fleets of several hundred cars, including Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Ferraris, and fostered ties to prosecutors and police with drug-fuelled parties.